Digital technology is changing people’s lives. The EU’s digital strategy aims to make this transformation work for people and businesses, while helping to achieve its target of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. The Commission is determined to make this Europe's “Digital Decade”. Europe must now strengthen its digital sovereignty and set standards, rather than following those of others – with a clear focus on data, technology, and infrastructure.

The EU’s approach to artificial intelligence centers on excellence and trust, aiming to boost research and industrial capacity while ensuring safety and fundamental rights.

These principles are currently developed by G7 Members under the Hiroshima Artificial Intelligence process to set up guardrails on a global level. The eleven draft guiding principles, which cover advanced AI systems such as foundational models and generative AI, aim to promote safety and trustworthiness of the technology. On this basis, G7 members aim to compile a Code of Conduct that will provide guidance for organisations developing AI tools.

General-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as ChatGPT, are quickly transforming the way AI systems are built and deployed. While these technologies are expected to bring huge benefits in the coming years, spurring innovation in many sectors, their disruptive nature raises policy questions around privacy and intellectual property rights, liability and accountability, and concerns about their potential to spread disinformation and misinformation. EU lawmakers need to strike a delicate balance between fostering the deployment of these technologies while making sure adequate safeguards are in place.

Generative artificial intelligence applications, such as ChatGPT, are powered through complex learning processes by comprehensive datasets of – potentially dubious – human-created content. There are concerns that such tools could develop consciousness and spark emergent behaviour that is, by definition, unpredictable and therefore potentially unsafe. Do these concerns point to a need to look again at the relevant legislation.

As a general-purpose technology, no single country or economic actor can tackle AI-related issues alone. The world needs to coordinate responses to the use of AI-based on international, multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder cooperation to ensure that the development and use of AI benefits people and the planet. This is where the OECD plays a critical role.